Authors: Tera L Fazzino Nora J Sporn Christie A Befort
Publish Date: 2016/03/02
Volume: 24, Issue: 7, Pages: 3165-3173
Abstract
Obesity is prevalent in breast cancer survivors and is a significant risk factor for recurrence and mortality Weight management interventions for survivors have been diverse in design inperson vs phonebased group vs individual and yielded varying weight loss results Given these issues participants themselves may provide insight into treatmentbased factors that contributed to their weight loss outcomes Here we report qualitative results from interviews with survivors in a group phonebased weight loss intervention with the objective of identifying mechanisms that facilitated or hindered adherence and weight loss We explored interest in paying for continued treatment as an indicator of dissemination potentialIndividual interviews were conducted with 186 rural obese breast cancer survivors upon completion of a 6month weight loss intervention that produced clinically meaningful weight loss 5 in 91 of participants A thematic analysis of the interview data was performedFive themes were identified as impacting adherence and success 1 accountability 2 importance of the group with varying levels of connectedness 3 dietary convenience 4 difficulty maintaining intervention components that required more effort and 5 importance of internal motivation to attributions of physical activity success or failure Most were interested in paying to continue the program if it were extended beyond the studyKey intervention components that participants attributed to their success included supportive group processes and convenience Results highlight the group phonebased approach as a potential venue for disseminating an effective weight loss program for breast cancer survivors
Keywords: